Bosco Ntaganda vs Qamar Javed Bajwa

Bosco Ntaganda joined the RPF, a Tutsi rebel group fighting the Rwandan government. He fought in the Rwandan Civil War and later participated in the 1994 genocide, though he was a member of the RPF, which stopped the genocide, not a perpetrator.

Ntaganda became a senior commander in the UPC, a rebel group in Ituri, DRC. He was involved in the Ituri conflict, where the UPC committed widespread atrocities against civilians, including massacres, rapes, and the use of child soldiers.

The ICC issued a sealed indictment against Ntaganda for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ituri. He was charged with murder, rape, sexual slavery, and enlisting child soldiers, becoming one of the first individuals indicted by the ICC.

Ntaganda was integrated into the Congolese army as a general as part of a peace deal with the CNDP, despite being under ICC indictment. His appointment was widely criticized by human rights groups, but he remained a powerful figure in the military.

Ntaganda surrendered to the ICC in Kigali, Rwanda, after losing a power struggle within the M23 rebel group. He was transferred to The Hague to face trial, marking a rare instance of a senior warlord voluntarily submitting to international justice.

The ICC convicted Ntaganda of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, and using child soldiers. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the longest sentence ever handed down by the ICC at the time.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa was appointed as the 16th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, succeeding General Raheel Sharif. His appointment was seen as a continuation of the military's anti-terrorism policies, and he was given an unprecedented three-year extension in 2019, making him the longest-serving army chief since Ayub Khan.

General Bajwa launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a nationwide counter-terrorism operation aimed at eliminating residual terrorist threats and consolidating gains from previous operations. The operation involved intelligence-based raids and border management, further reducing terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Following the Pulwama attack, India launched airstrikes on Balakot, Pakistan. General Bajwa oversaw Pakistan's military response, including the downing of two Indian aircraft and the capture of an Indian pilot. The crisis de-escalated after Pakistan returned the pilot, but tensions remained high along the Line of Control.

General Bajwa played a key role in facilitating the US-Taliban peace agreement, signed in Doha. Pakistan's military provided logistical support and pressure on the Taliban to negotiate. The deal led to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the subsequent Taliban takeover in 2021.